An Oregon teacher’s letter to lawmakers: We don’t need your prayers, we need your courage

[babylonsister]

http://www.salon.com/2015/10/02/an_oregon_teachers_letter_to_lawmakers_we_dont_need_your_prayers_we_need_your_courage/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Friday, Oct 2, 2015 06:59 PM EST
An Oregon teacher’s letter to lawmakers: We don’t need your prayers, we need your courage
An Oregon teacher asks: Why should we fight when you won't?
Melissa Duclos

snip//


These security measures — generic, unfollowable, completely incompatible with the reality of my school — are, in their inadequate way, essential. It is not the school’s fault that heavily armed people, whether through incurable rage or mental instability, all too frequently choose academic institutions as the settings for the horror they unleash. I recognize that we do not have the resources to retrofit our facilities with safer features. I am positive that handing me — or any teacher — a gun will solve nothing. Regardless of the level of preparedness, though, it is clear that schools and teachers are being asked to do a job that they are not meant to do.

My son will start kindergarten next year. At 5 years old he and his classmates, in addition to learning reading and math, will be walked through lockdown drills by a teacher who will likely be hiding an immense terror as she has students practice finding a cozy place to hide and times how long they can remain quiet. It will probably seem like a game to him at first, but eventually my son and the rest of America’s schoolchildren who are learning the same lessons will ask why. Why have we allowed our schools to become a place where children must hide, and teachers must fight to survive?

What do you recommend I tell him? This week, when I speak to my students about what happened at Umpqua and about our own emergency procedures, what do you advise I say after I explain that the stapler and whiteboard markers — the only classroom supplies I have in my room — are critical to our survival?

I could tell them that your thoughts and prayers are with us. I could tell them we have your deepest sympathies. But I am teaching a class on argument, instructing my students on the importance of facts. So instead I will tell them the truth: They have to be prepared to hide out of the line of fire, and I to fight for our survival, because you, our lawmakers, haven’t done your jobs. I will tell them that their rights, my rights, the rights of my 5-year-old, to attend school without fear of facing senseless slaughter by machine-gun fire, are not important to you, that we must be prepared to fight tooth and nail, stapler and whiteboard marker, because you refuse to fight the gun lobby in this country.
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The next time you have an opportunity to sponsor or vote on common-sense gun legislation, instead of fearing the attack ads the gun lobby will undoubtedly launch against you, the lost campaign revenue, or the threat to your job, I hope that you think of me and my students, of the rest of the educators and students across the country, who have been asked to stand up to gunmen because you are too scared to stand up to a handful of lobbyists.

[annabanana]

1. Kicking, because it deserves a few. . . .n/t

[Ilsa]

2. Wicked fantastic letter.

Point out that the politicians lack the courage they expect everyone else to fight with.

[volstork]

3. Brilliant

And eviscerating.
I wish someone would listen...

[mdbl]

4. She's so right! Congress is a bunch cowards

Almost all of them.

[Hoppy]

5. It's not that they are cowards. Rather, they are whores.

Unfortunately, there is no afterlife that contains a hell. If they were, there would be slow turning skewers for the white asses in Congress that vote with the N.R.A.

[LuckyLib]

6. Outstanding! This quoted text is going in to my letters

to our idiots in Congress. I'll feel like I'm doing something other than gnash my teeth.

[citizen blues]

7. I'm also an Oregon Community College and University Instructor

I couldn't agree more with these words!

[Punx]

8. My State Senator in Oregon

Here in Oregon my State Senator (who won by a handful of votes) supported gun legislation in the last session.

I know the NRA and conservatives were thinking of a recall. Why? Because I was polled about it and one of the questions was "What did I think of the NRA" and then a bunch of questions about guns and some other stuff and then the questions: "Would I support a recall of said senator?" "Would I vote for him in the next election?"

Bottom line is he supported what some here on DU would rightly call very "inadequate" gun legislation and he was targeted.

I will be sending a thank you. While I doubt it would have stopped yesterday's tragedy, it was a step in the right direction.

[cascadiance]

10. Are you in Chuck Riley's district? I got a phone poll before I even knew of the recall attempt...

... and the way they were trying to get him to "trip himself" on words in some interview that was done.

Yes, the gun lobby tried and failed to get a number of recalls here earlier. Fortunately most Americans see these bastards for what they are!

Though I don't thank Bloomberg for trying to get us to pass open primaries here last election (prop 90), i do thank him for helping get senators like Riley elected so that we could have a significant majority to at least do some partial work on putting in gun regulations here last term.

I hope he speaks heavily on this Roseburg shooting as well as the local cop shooting we had a few miles away here in Aloha tonight that killed a 55 year old woman who probably didn't have to die if we had competent cops responding to that situation.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141223431

[Punx]

12. Yes

Chuck Riley's.

And yes I hope he uses the Roseburg shooting to defend his positions on gun control. Sad that you have to use the death of 10 people to defend a sensible position. I didn't hear about the about the Aloha shooting. Thank you for the link. I'm out in the Hillsboro area.

[smirkymonkey]

9. +1000

[Skittles]

11. the courage to fight gun humping cowards

[passiveporcupine]

13. Thank you Melissa, for laying it out like this

I will tell them that their rights, my rights, the rights of my 5-year-old, to attend school without fear of facing senseless slaughter by machine-gun fire, are not important to you, that we must be prepared to fight tooth and nail, stapler and whiteboard marker, because you refuse to fight the gun lobby in this country.

YES! It's time to stand up to the cowardly congressmen who refuse to stand up to the gun lobbyists.